Apparatus for making patterned tufted pile fabric



7 l 3 m h 5 3 w 9 2% S 6 E L I P D E T F U T DD Rm n CT m LP m I K A M R O F S U T A R6 A5 W 0 6 4 9 2 1 c a 3 m y d a .m M i F INVENTOR JOSEPH LEWIS CARD L'MW ATTORNEY mm m v y 3, 1960 J. CARD 2,935,037

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PATTERNED TUF TED PILE FABRIC Filed Dc. 24, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOSEPH LEWIS CARD ATTORNEY May 3,

J. L. CARD APPARATUS FOR MAKING PATTERNED TUFTED PILE FABRIC Filed Dec. 24, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR JOSEPH LEWIS CARD .l'amonZ ATTORNEY J. L. CARD May 3, 1960 APPARATUS FOR MAKING PATTERNED TUFTED FILE FABRIC Filed Dec. 24, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 m T N E V m JOSEPH LEWIS CARD dam Wm ATTOR N EY y 1960 J. L. CARD 2,935,037

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PATTERNED TUFTED PILE FABRIC Filed Dec. 24, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 JOSEPH LEWIS CARD FIG. I0

.CammZ' ATTORNEY y 1 6 A J. L. CARD A 2,935,037

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PATTERNED TUFTED FILE FABRIC Filed Dec. 24, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG. I2

FIG. n

INVENTOR JOSEPH LEWIS CARD ATTORNEY Uni cds atc P te APPARATUS non MAKING PATTERNED rurrnn PILE FABRIC Application December 24, 1956,'Serial No. 630,343 Claims. (Cl. 112-79 This invention relates generally to an apparatus for making a tufted pile fabric having pile loops of different lengths in selected areas thereof, and is an improvement over I. L. Cards U.S. patent application S.N. 327,807, filed December 24, 1952, now abandoned The principal object of this invention is to provide means for positively feeding and controlling yarns supplied to tufting machines in a manner such that selected areas of the tufted fabric may have pile loops of different lengths and to select such areas in a manner to provide more varied and more elaborate predetermined design features or patterns in the finished fabric than are possible according to the apparatus disclosed in the Card application Serial Number 327,807.

Under the Card application Serial Number 327,807, a group of needles in a multiple needle tufting machine are fed by yarn from a yarn feed roll or a pair of yarn reed rolls, the speed of the rolls being varied by pattern control means in order to form high and low loop nap in a base fabric. For each group of needles there is a separate yarn feed roll or rolls. The intricacy of the design in the patterned fabrics is limited by the number or rolls, and consequently the number of groups of needles, which could be mounted upon a machine. In the Card application Serial Number 327,807, four pairs of yarn feed rolls are disclosed which limit the fabric patterns to rectilinear designs.

It is therefore an object of this invention to overcome the limitations enumerated by providing a tufting machine having a minimum number of yarn feed rolls, each of said rolls being driven at a constant but different speed from any other roll, and by having means for shifting yarn from one feed roll to another.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tufting machine for making patterned loop pile fabric of high and low nap having a pattern control means of novel construction.

' Another object of this invention is to provide a tufting machine for making high and low nap patterned loop pile fabric having a pair of yarn feed rolls of novel construction and driven at different speeds, mechanism for shifting yarn from one feed roll to another and pattern control means for operating the yarn shifting mechanism.

' Afurther object of this invention is to provide a tufting machine for making high and low nap patterned loop pile fabric having a pair of parallel rolls nearly contiguous with each other rotating at different speeds, each of said rolls having spaced yarn gripping bands, with the yarn gripping bands on one roll staggered with respect to the yarn gripping bands on the other roll.

7 Another object of this invention is to provide a tufting machine for making high and low nap patterned loop pile fabric having a pair of yarn feed rolls of, novel eon-v struction and having a plurality of yarn shifting fingers adapted to be operated by pattern control mechanism to transfer yarn from one feed roll to another according to "a'predetermined pattern. r

fabric by shifting yarn being fed to reciprocating needles from a yarn feed roll driven at a constant speed to another yarn feed roll driven at a different constant speed.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the -drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the tufting machine with the present invention attached thereto, the front of the machine being at the top of the sheet;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the right-hand end of the machine as viewed in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the left-hand end of the, machine as viewed in Fig. 1, with the housing for the yarn feed roll gears broken away;

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5. is a partial front elevation at the right end of Fig. 1, disclosing a yarn feed roll and yarn shifting fingers;

Fig. 6,is a partial rear elevation at the left end of Fig. l, disclosing the pattern control mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of the electrical controls for the pattern drum;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the manner in which the full length pile loops are formed;

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the pile loops of reduced length are formed;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of a piece of fabric showing a pattern design which may be executed on a machine equipped with the yarn feed of the present invention;

Fig. 11 is a section taken along the lines 11-11 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 12 is a view taken along the lines 12-12 of Fig. 11.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the framework of the tufting machine comprises a housing 10 having end walls 11 and 12 and a bed plate 13 (Fig. 4). The housing 10 is generally hollow and contains the needle mechanism and drive therefor. The drive means for the needles comprises a horizontal shaft 14 mounted in suitable bearings (not shown). One end of the shaft 14, extends from the righthand end wall 12, as viewed in Fig. 1, and is there provided with a drive pulley 15, which is connected by a drive belt or sprocket chain 16 to a pulley 17 driven by electric motor 18 mounted in the lower portion of the housing 10, as best disclosed in Fig. 2. The shaft 14 intermediate its ends is provided with a plurality of eccentrics 19 with which are operatively associated links or pitmans 20. The pitmans 20are connected at their lower extremities to vertically reciprocable rods 21 which are suitably guided for vertical movement in guide bearings 22 carried by the housing 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The rods 21 are attached at their lower extremities to the needle bar 23, said bar carrying a plurality of needles 24. The needles 24 are secured within the bar 23 in any suitable manner so that they can be easily replaced.

The needles 24 are arranged to reciprocate through an apertured needle plate 25 carried by the bed plate 13, and at the upper limit of their excursion are clear of said needle plate.

As disclosed in Fig. 4, a hook member 26 has been provided for each needle 24. The hook members 26 are mounted on a rock shaft 27 suitably mounted within the bed plate 13 for rocking movement in timed relation to' Patented May 3, 1960 are projected through the needle plate 25 by the needles 24 ina well-known manner. The shaft 27 may be rocked by a conventional link and arm mechanism driven by the needle shaft 14 in a known manner, such for instance as shown in the specification of the United States Patent to McCutchen 2,423,608. It will be understood that the operation of the shaft 27 and the hook members 26 is such that as a needle 24 carrying the thread loop reaches the lower-most portion of its downward excursion, the hook member 26 will be rocked counterclockwise in Fig. 4 to engage and retain the loop in its projected position during the retraction ofthe needle 24 upwardly through the needle plate 25 and the base fabric 28. The hook members 26 are then withdrawn from the respective loops by a rocking movement in a clockwise direction, and this action is repeated for each stitch of the associated needle. All of the above mechanisms for so actuating the hooks are conventional and form no part of the present invention.

As is conventional in forming tufted pile fabric in a sewing machine, the base fabric 28 is fed across the needle plate 25 from a suitable supply roll, not shown, by feed rolls 29 at the front of the machine and feed rolls 3% at the rear of the machine. The feed rolls 29 and 30 may be driven by a chain of gearing which includes the belt member 31 driven from the pulley 32 mounted on the needle shaft 34, said belt driving a pulley 33 connected to a stub shaft 34' which, through appropriate gearing within the gear box 35, drives the shaft 36 on which the top rear feed roll 30 is mounted. The opposite end of the shaft 36 is linked with gearing Within gear box 37 which drives the lower rear fabric feed roll 30 and the stub shaft 38. The left end of the roll shaft 36, as viewed 44 will be driven at different speeds. Although it is not material to this invention as to which roll rotates faster, Figs. 1 and 3 disclose gear 54 as being smaller than gear 55. Thus, the rear feed roll 144 will rotate faster than the front feed roll 43.

Mounted above the yarn feed rolls 43 and 44 are a plurality of yarn shifting fingers 57, one finger for each annular gripping band 47 on a yarn feed roll. Each yarn shifting finger 57 is fixed to a vertical spindle 58 rotatably supported in bearings 59 and 60 on the pattern control box 61. Mounted Within the pattern control box 61 are a plurality of solenoids 62, one solenoid for each yarn shifting finger 57. Coupled to the armature 63 of each solenoid 62 is a solenoid lever 64 which extends through an aperture 65 in the front panel of the control box '61 and is rigidly attached to a spindle 58, as best disclosed in Figs. 5, l1 and 12. Activation of the solenoid 62 will withdraw armature 63 into the solenoid 62 pivoting the solenoid lever 64 and yarn shifting finger 57 to the dotted line position disclosed in Fig. 12. A spring 66 is provided on each solenoid 62 to bias the solenoid lever 64 away from the solenoid to return the armature 63, lever 64, and yarn shifting finger 57 to their original positions before activation of the solenoid 62. As best disclosed in Figs. 11 and 12, a stop bar 67 having a slot 68 to limit the lateral movement of each yarn shiftin Fig. 6, carries a pulley 39 around which is mounted a belt member 40, which in turn drives a pulley 41 supported on shaft 42 to drive one of the front fabric feed rolls 29.

The tufting machine as thus far described is quite con-. ventional and in its normal operation; when yarn or thread is supplied to the needles 24, will project pile loops of uniform height or length through the base fabric 28 to form a tufted pile fabric of conventional type and in which the pile is of uniform depth.

In order to feed individual strands of yarn to the needles 24 and in order to form patterns of high and low loop piles in the base fabric 28, a pair of yarn feed rolls 43 and 44 are mounted parallel and nearly contiguous with each other on the front of the housing 10 in suitable bearings 45 and 46. In the preferred form of the invention, the rolls 43 and 44 are of equal diameter and are spaced apart from each other to form an interstice of approximately 0.006 inch to permit the passage of yarn. Each roll is provided with equally spaced annular grooves, each of which is filled with a frictional substance, such as emery, to form a yarn gripping band 47. The bands 48 forming the smooth surfaces between the annular grooves on the rollsare comparatively frictionless and adapted not to grip'a strand of yarn adjacent said surface. bands 47 on each roll. The rolls 43 and 44 are so constructed that the yarn gripping bands 47 on each roll are staggered with respect to the yarn gripping bands 47 on the other roll. Thus, an annular yarn gripping band 47 on one roll 43 will oppose a smooth'annular nongripping band 48 on the other roll 44. r

The right-hand end of the shaft 49 supporting roll 44 is driven by gearing within gear box 50, which in turn is driven by pulley 51, belt member 52 and drive pulley 53 mounted on needle shaft 14. The left-hand end of v roll shaft 49 terminates in a gear 54 which meshes with There are an equal number of yarn gripping ing finger 57 is mounted on the control box 61.

. Rotatab-ly mounted in suitable bearings 69 and 70 on the rear of the housing 10 is a pattern drum 71, as best disclosed in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 6. The pattern drum 71 is rotated in synchronism with the other operating parts of the tufting machine through sheave 72, belt member 73, jackshaft sheave 74, jackshaft 75, change sprocket 76, chain 77, and drive sprocket 78. Drive sprocket 78 is driven through the gear train 79 meshing with the drive gear 80 keyed on stub shaft 38. The bottom gears in train 79 float on roll shaft 36.

As best disclosed in Figs. 1 and 6, a pattern sheet 81 having openings 82 cut therein to form a particular design desired to be reproduced in the tufted fabric 83, such as illustrated in Fig. 10, is fitted around pattern drum 71. As best disclosed in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7, a plurality of pattern fingers 84 are pivotally mounted on a finger bar 85 fixedly supported on the rear of the housing 10. All the pattern fingers 84 are urged into constant engagement with the pattern drum .71 by means of the springs 86. When a pattern finger 84 engages an opening 82 in the rotating pattern sheet 81, the free end of the finger comprising a breaker point 87 engages another breaker point 88 fixed in an insulated contact bar 89 thereby closing a circuit to activate the corresponding solenoid 62 through lead 90 and ground wire 91. 1

The end of each yarn shifting finger comprises a slot 92, each slot being adapted to guide a strand or strands of yarn 93 from a source of yarn supply such as a creel, not shown, between the yarn feed rolls 43 and 44. In actual practice each slot 92 guides a pair of yarn strands 93 to adjacent needles 24, so that twice as many needles may be employed as there are yarn shifting fingers 57, solenoids 62 and pattern fingers 84. The length of the pattern drum 7]. is only half as long as would be required ifeach finger slot 92 carried only one strand of yarn 93. As best disclosed in Fig. 12, a yarn shifting finger 57 whichhas not been activated by its corresponding solenoid 62 guides its yarn 93 between an annular gripping band 47 on the front roll 43 and a non-gripping band 48 on the rear'roll 44. In such an event, the yarn 93 will be engaged by the slower front roll 43 to create a low nap in the base fabric 28. When the yarn shifting finger 57 is activated by its corresponding solenoid 62 and pivots to the dotted line position disclosed in Fig, 12, the yarn.

may

are-created by the pattern fingers 84 engaging the openings 82 in the pattern sheet 81, and the low nap design areas are created by the pattern fingers 84 engaging the solid portions of the pattern sheet 81. It is of course to be understood that a particular arrangement of ,the pattern sheet openings 82, the yarn shifting fingers 57 and the annular gripping bands 47 on the feed rolls 43 and 44 are not important features of the invention. Itis entirely possible for the pattern sheet openings 82 to correspond to the low nap areas of the design by reversing the solenoids 62, or by laterally shifting the annular gripping bands 47 a space equal to the width of an annular gripping band, so that a solenoid-operated yarn shifting finger 57 would permit the yarn 93 to engage the opposite roll from that previously described.

When the pattern fingers 84 engage the openings 82 in the pattern sheet 81, the corresponding strands of yarn 93 are engaged by the faster yarn feed roll 44 to supply a full length loop L for each stitch of a needle 24, that is, a loop corresponding in length to the depth of penetration of the base fabric 28 by the needle 24, plus the length of the back-stitch s between successive loops. This operation is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 8.

Fig. 9 shows diagrammatically the operation of the needle 24 for the formation of a loop when a strand of yarn 93 is being fed to the needle 24 by the front feed roll 43 rotating at a slower speed than the rear feed roll 44. The front feed roll 43 supplies a needle 24 with a lesser amount of yarn than is supplied by rear feed roll 44, the length of yarn per stitch under this low speed operation being equal to twice the length of a given loop L plus the length of the same back-stitch s. A loop L is formed by the needle 24 first forming a loop L equal to the depth of penetration, and because of the shortage of the yarn provided by the slow speed feed roll 43, the needle withdraws a portion of the yarn from a previously formed loop so that the short nap is provided in the base fabric 28 by deficient loops L It is, of course, possible to form either a uniform high nap tufted fabric by completely removing the pattern sheet 81 from the pattern drum 71, or to form a uniform low nap tufted fabric by placing a pattern sheet 81 without any openings 82 on the pattern drum 71.

The yarn 93 may be drawn back as described, by the needle 24 alone operating on its penetration stroke to pull back yarn from a previously formed loop after all of the slack yarn between the feed rolls and the needle has been drawn into the loop being formed. However, it is also possible to draw back the yarn by including in the needle mechanism a yarn or thread jerker 94 (Fig. 4), as previously described in Card application Serial Numher 327,807.

Fig. discloses an example of a pattern fabric 83 made on the tufting machine provided with the pattern attachment constituting the present invention, and in which the short or low pile areas are represented by Lo, and the long or high pile areas are represented by Hi. It will be noted that the Hi areas correspond to the openings 82 in the pattern sheet 81 disclosed in Fig. 1. As previously described, it is also possible for the Hi and Lo areas to be reversed by reversing the solenoid circuits or the spacing of the annular gripping bands 47 on the feed rolls 43 and 44.

It is important to note that the entire operation of the machine is driven from a single motor 18 and all of the various mechanisms upon the machine are synchronously operated to produce a continuous sheet of patterned tufted fabric of high and low nap.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

n 6 Whatisclair'ned is:

1. A yarn feeding apparatus for feeding a plurality of. yarns to a tufting machine having a plurality of needles adapted to be simultaneously operated comprising, a pair of spaced yarn feed rolls having parallel axes, the spacing of said rolls being sufiicient to permit the passage of a yarn between but in contact with the surfaces of both of said rolls, the surfaces of each of said yarn feed rolls comprising alternating annular yarn gripping and yarn slipping bands, the yarn gripping bands of one roll being offset from the yarn gripping bands of the other roll so thata yarn passing between said rolls substantially perpendicular to the axes of the rolls is gripped by the surface of one roll and slips on the opposite surface of the other roll, means for shifting yarn axially of said rolls to transfer a yarn from the yarn gripping band of one roll toa yarn gripping band on the other roll, and means for driving the rolls at different peripheral speeds.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which a pattern control means is operatively associated with said yarn shifting means to selectively feed yarns at different speeds to said needles to form high and low loops in a tufted pile fabric according to a predetermined pattern.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which said yarn shifting means comprise fingers pivoted for moving said yarn axially of said rolls.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which said yarn shifting means comprises a finger for each yarn gripping band on one roll pivotally mounted on one side of said rolls, slot means in said finger for guiding a yarn between a yarn gripping band of one roll and the opposing yarn slipping band of the other roll substantially perpendicular to the axes of said rolls, and means for selectively pivoting each finger to guide a yarn between opposing yarn gripping and slipping bands or between the adjacent opposing yarn slipping and gripping bands.

5. The invention according to claim 4 in which said slot means comprises the tip of said finger, said tip being located proximate to the yarn passage spacing between said rolls without touching said roll surfaces.

6. The invention according to claim 4 in which said finger pivoting means comprises a spindle, said finger being fixed to said spindle for limited rotational movement substantially axially of said rolls, a lever fixed to said spindle and an electro-magnet for actuating said lever to rotate said spindle.

7. A yarn feeding apparatus for feeding a plurality of yarns to a tufting machine having a plurality of needles adapted to be simultaneously operated, comprising a plurality of endless movable surfaces rotatable about parallel axes for feeding said yarns to said needles, spaced yarn gripping bands formed on each of said movable surfaces and rotatable therewith in planes normal to said axes, the plane of rotation of each yarn gripping band being offset from the plane of rotation of any other yarn gripping band, means for feeding yarns across said surfaces substantially perpendicular to said axes so that each yarn selectively contacts only one yarn gripping band at a time, means for shifting yarns axially of said feed surfaces to transfer a yarn from the yarn gripping band of one surface to the yarn gripping band of another surface, and means for driving each surface at a different peripheral speed from any other surface.

8. The invention according to claim 7 in which the portions of said movable surfaces between said spaced yarn gripping bands comprise yarn slipping bands and each of said yarns selectively contact either a yarn gripping band or a yarn slipping band on each of said movable surfaces.

9. The invention according to claim 7 in which a pattern control means is operatively associated with said yarn shifting means to selectively feed yarns at different speeds to said needles according to a predetermined pattern.

7 10. The invention according to claim 7 in which said yarn feed surfaces comprise y arn feed rolls.

References Cited in the file of this patent 'MacCafiray Mar. 12, 1957 'Masland Apr. 7, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Oct. 1, 1885 

